Cruel Story of Youth 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Cruel Story of Youth 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 23, 2026

Nagisa Oshima's "Cruel Story of Youth" (1960) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with critic Tony Rayns; early short film directed by Nagisa Oshima; vintage trailer; and more. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Somewhere in the city, young and beautiful Mako (Miyuki Kuwano, Late Autumn) is picked up by an older man determined to have a good time. When later on he refuses to take her home and attempts to force himself on her, she is saved by Kiyoshi (Yusuke Kawazu, Red Angel), a bored student. The two youngsters begin seeing each other, but it quickly becomes obvious that Kiyoshi can be far more aggressive than Mako’s former companion.

When Kiyoshi insults a few pimps and is ordered by their powerful boss to pay them a hefty sum of money, he convinces Mako that together they could make a small fortune by cheating older men with deep pockets. Mako would make them believe she is naive and easy, and when they try to make love to her, Kiyoshi would suddenly appear and save her. To avoid embarrassment, the men will have to part ways with the money they are carrying in their wallets.

For a while, the plan works exactly as described by Kiyoshi, but then the two lovers become frustrated with each other. Kiyoshi begins spending time with an older woman, while Mako allows strangers to entertain her. Their relationship becomes even more complicated when Mako discovers that she is pregnant and Kiyoshi is, once again, confronted by the pimps.

Cruel Story of Youth is a very appropriate title for this film. One’s initial impression is that it would tell a story about two young people whose passion for freedom and love will present them with various opportunities to experience the very best of what life has to offer. But after Kiyoshi forces Mako to make love to him and they become partners in crime, it is difficult not to feel like some of the older men who go out on a date with the girl and discover that she isn’t as innocent as she looks -- one is stunned, even made completely speechless by the harsh contrasts that emerge. (The film undoubtedly has some of the most beautifully lensed disturbing scenes).

The story is set in a busy city during the early 1960s, shortly after the ratification of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, which ensured that the United States would continue to play an important role in Japan’s post-war transformation. At the time, many angry young people were on the streets, rebelling against the current status quo in their country. But Mako and Kiyoshi are not amongst them. They are also rebels, but their anger is directed at their families and the type of life they are expected to settle for.

This anger is what brings the youngsters together and forces them to choose roles for each other that get them in trouble. Then gradually, while playing their roles, their reality evolves dramatically, and they suddenly discover that they have become the people they pretended to be. The shock quickly crushes them, and they never regain their freedom.

The social commentary is fairly basic, but when placed in the proper historical context it actually reveals plenty about the unusual ways -- at least by Western standards -- in which young Japanese men and women treated each other. The balance of power between the two sexes, and especially the logic by which various shocking acts are justified, can be fascinating to analyze. The film also has a very flexible dark sense of humor that can frequently force one into a guessing mode, as the funny can quickly become flat-out disturbing.

Cruel Story of Youth 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Cruel Story of Youth is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that all screencaptures included with this article are taken from the Blu-ray. We have not provided downscaled screencaptures from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release presents a recent 4K restoration of Cruel Story of Youth, sourced from the original camera. In native 4K, the 4K restoration cannot be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades.

The 4K restoration and its native 4K and 1080p presentations are wonderful. I performed several comparisons with this Region-B release of Cruel Story of Youth, which is the only other release of this film I have in my library, and each time, I liked the new presentations more. Both produce rich, very healthy organic visuals that look terrific on a large screen. Delineation, clarity, and depth are not always substantially better -- the older release also produces very nice visuals -- but there is a consistency in all visuals now that is unmissable. Color reproduction and balance are very good. Minor adjustments have been made to rebalance select primaries and supporting nuances, and they are all very effective. Also, these adjustments do not alter the previous values of the primaries and supporting nuances. They only improve saturation and expand them a bit. (This is more obvious in native 4K). There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent.

Cruel Story of Youth 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: Japanese LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I thought that lossless track on the Region-B Blu-ray release of Cruel Story of Youth was already great. While revisiting the film in native 4K, I did not notice anything different or any improvements to report. All dialogue is still very clear and easy to follow. Some of the music is effectively used to create dynamic variety, but the film's original sound design is unremarkable. The English translation is excellent.

Cruel Story of Youth 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Special Features - these are no special features on the disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• A Town of Love and Hope (1959) - presented here is Nagisa Oshima's first feature, which convinced the Japanese studio Shochiku to allow him to direct Cruel Story of Youth. Black-and-white. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (63 min).

• Tomorrow's Sun (1959) - an early short film directed by Nagisa Oshima with a period spoofy personality. In color. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (7 min).

• Tony Rayns - in this archival program, critic Tony Rayns discusses the life and cinematic legacy of Nagisa Oshima. The program was produced for Criterion in 2005. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (21 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Cruel Story of Youth. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Chris Fujiwara's essay "A Blank Generation", as well as technical credits.

Cruel Story of Youth 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nagisa Oshima's second feature film, Cruel Story of Youth, mixes the unbridled energy of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless and the anarchic anger of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. It works best as a time capsule that offers a glimpse into a country that has struggled to find its identity and, in the process, created a huge gap between two very different post-war generations.Criterion's combo pack presents a wonderful recent 4K restoration of Cruel Story of Youth. A separate Blu-ray release is available for purchase as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.